Authenticating Storage Requests Using SharedKeyAuthenticationHandler
With the older version of the storage client library (version 1.7) you could sign HttpWebRequests using the SignRequestLite function, and there were several examples on the web of how to do this....
View ArticlePaaS Cloud Service Role Restart Scenarios
There are several reasons why a PaaS cloud service role instance would restart or recycle. This list may not be exhaustive, but I believe it covers all scenarios as of today. Some day when I have...
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Windows Azure Role Architecture
*Update Aug 20, 2013: The guest agent process used to be WaAppAgent, and any updates to this guest agent would come at the same time as a Guest OS update. This has been changed to use 2 guest agents –...
View ArticleDebugging Windows Azure – Resources on the VM
During the course of debugging Windows Azure applications on a daily basis I have accumulated several tips, tricks, and debugging techniques that are specific to the Azure platform. I plan to create a...
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Debugging Windows Azure–Getting Tools onto the VM, Part 1
Debugging Windows Azure Series Resources on the VM Getting Tools onto the VM, Part 1 In the second part of the Debugging Windows Azure series we will look at the various ways you can get your...
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Asynchronous Parallel Block Blob Transfers with Progress Change Notification
UPDATE March 6, 2013: This code has been significantly updated and the new version can be found at...
View ArticleHow to increase the size of the Windows Azure Web Role ASP.NET Temporary Folder
By default the ASP.NET temporary folder size in a Windows Azure web role is limited to 100 MB. This is sufficient for the vast majority of applications, but some applications may require more storage...
View ArticleRole Instance Restarts Due to OS Upgrades
Update March 7, 2013 Added to the Q&A section — Q: How long will the upgrade take? How long will my VM be down? Update October 17, 2014 Added information about Guest Agent updates. Thanks to my...
View ArticleWindows Azure Disk Partition Preservation
One of the regular questions I get asked is what happens to my disks and drive letters in Windows Azure VMs when <x> happens. The following chart will outline the different scenarios that...
View ArticleHeartbeats, Recovery, and the Load Balancer
Some of the more common questions I get are around heartbeats/probes, how the fabric recovers from failed probes, and how load balancer manages traffic to these instances. Q: How does the fabric know...
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Asynchronous Parallel Blob Transfers with Progress Change Notification 2.0
This post is an update to the post at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kwill/archive/2011/05/30/asynchronous-parallel-block-blob-transfers-with-progress-change-notification.aspx. Improvements from previous...
View ArticleWindows Azure Root Certificate Migration – Impact Scenarios
Overview We recently published a blog post outlining the upcoming root certificate change from the GTE CyberTrust Global Root to the Baltimore CyberTrust Root which will take effect starting April...
View ArticleCompatibility Issue – SQL Azure connectivity using the SQL Native Client may...
Prior to July 2013 the Windows Azure Guest OS included version 10 of the SQL Native Client libraries (commonly named SQLNCLI or SNAC). The July release of the Windows Azure Guest OS (1.24, 2.16 and...
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Windows Azure PaaS Compute Diagnostics Data
When troubleshooting a problem one of the most important things to know is what diagnostic data is available. If you don’t know where to look for logs or other diagnostics information then you end...
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Troubleshooting Scenario 1 – Role Recycling
Continuing from the diagnostic information at Windows Azure PaaS Compute Diagnostics Data, this blog post will describe how to troubleshoot a role that fails to start. This particular scenario is...
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AzureTools – The Diagnostic Utility used by the Windows Azure Developer...
Getting AzureTools Direct Download Link – http://dsazure.blob.core.windows.net/azuretools/AzureTools.exe — or — Downloading from within an Azure VM (*note, this only works on Guest OS Family 2 or...
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Troubleshooting Scenario 2 – Role Recycling After Running Fine For 2 Weeks
Continuing from the diagnostic information at Windows Azure PaaS Compute Diagnostics Data, this blog post will describe how to troubleshoot a role that begins recycling after it has been running fine...
View Article“HTTP 403 Server failed to authenticate the request” When Using Shared Access...
One of the more common Azure Storage shared access signature issues I see is “403 Server failed to authenticate the request. Make sure the value of Authorization header is formed correctly including...
View ArticleHow to Modify a Running Azure Service
You have deployed your service to Azure and discover that it isn’t working correctly. After going through the troubleshooting series you have identified where the problem is and you think you know...
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Troubleshooting Scenario 3 – Role Stuck in Busy
Continuing from the troubleshooting series at Windows Azure PaaS Compute Diagnostics Data, this blog post will describe how to troubleshoot a role that is stuck in the Busy state with the error...
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